Quick Shots: LeBron James, Chris Bosh choose wisely

Saturday

Jul 12, 2014 at 5:00 PM

By Matt TrowbridgeRockford Register Star

Good for LeBron James for leaving Miami. And the same to Chris Bosh for staying. I assumed James would stay because moving a second time to join an all-star roster in chase of a title would make him look small. Going back to Cleveland and a young, unproven team in a blighted city makes him look bigger than ever.

Bosh could have joined a potent Houston team, but stayed with the Heat (albeit for more money) where he gets to not only stay put but now has a chance to be the star instead of the third wheel.

Equaling Hit King

Register Star statistics guru (and lifelong Reds fan) Alex Gary came up with this stat after Boylan grad Jake Smolinski had eight hits in his first three starts for the Texas Rangers: 40 more and all Rockford-area major leaguers in history will match Pete Rose’s record total of 4,256.

Speed doesn’t kill

Billy Hamilton was easily the most eagerly awaited rookie for fantasy owners, and probably regular fans too. Hamilton has been even better than expected, thanks to great defense and better than expected hitting: five homers and a .284 average after hitting .256 in Class AAA last year and averaging fewer than three HRs in five minor league seasons. But the next Vince Coleman or Ricky Henderson has been thrown out stealing 14 times.

With offense at its lowest level in more than 20 years, stolen bases mean more than they used to, but even 37 steals is no help when you get caught stealing 14 times. Jose Altuve (41 steals vs. being caught three times) is a running asset. Dee Gordon (42 and 9), Ben Revere (26 and 3) and Jose Reyes (17 and 1) are too. But Hamilton is a good reminder that hitting, not running, is always the most important attribute for a hitter.

Manziel’s IQ

Johnny Manziel scored a 32 on the NFL’s Wonderlic test, three points higher than the average for quarterbacks. It obviously doesn’t measure common sense, but it’s one more sign that Johnny Football will be an NFL star. His partying is overrated. What matters is that he can play.